Travel for Less

The Cold Chisel song Cheap Wine and the famous three-day growth of the young Jimmy Barnes have passed into Australian history. Where is the famous bar depicted on their classic album Breakfast at Sweethearts? Could it really be tucked away inside the slick Hilton Hotel? Story Jessica Adams. Cold Chisel writer Don Walker immortalised Kings Cross, Sydney in his song Breakfast at Sweethearts – but it’s the beautiful heritage-listed Marble Bar down the road which is still standing in all its 1979 glory today. The band won Best Australian Album, that year, and also Best Australian Record Cover Design for the shot of the band taken in the Marble Bar in the Sydney Hilton.

The Secret Musicians’ Sanctuary in the Heart of Sydney

The Veronicas are also fans of The Marble Bar, which always feels like midnight even when it’s 5.00pm on a hot, sunny Sydney afternoon. Slink into The Hilton Hotel after you’ve finished shopping at the Queen Victoria Building. It’s just over the road. Head downstairs and soon you will be drinking in one of the most legendary bars in Australia. You don’t have to stay at the Hilton to hide yourself away, here. It’s a discreet, quiet, cool (literally cool – like marble) place to meet friends and although it’s never been a secret, The Marble Bar goes in and out of style so often, that it’s sometimes invisible again.

The Marble Bar – Old-Fashioned George Street Style

If you’re a fan of the beautiful Queen Victoria Building, consider the Marble Bar to be its little sister. This is old-fashioned George Street style, just steps away from Town Hall train station. Dress accordingly (although Cold Chisel didn’t) and enjoy one of Sydney’s few remaining old-school watering holes. You’ll find The Hilton Hotel midway along George Street, and then it’s a short hop in the lift downstairs for wine o’clock once the day is done.